Venezuela's "9-Dash-Line" in the Caribbean

Page 1 of 6

VENEZUELA

Venezuelas 9-DashLine in the Caribbean

By Evan Ellis / July 28, 2015

In recent years, the Peoples Republic of China has

alarmed its neighbors by aggressively asserting
sovereignty over vast portions of the South China Sea, a
claim demarcated through what is commonly called the
9-dash-line.
While the United States has abstained from taking a
position on Chinas claims, it has expressed strong reservations over
the manner in which it has pushed to impose its position on its
neighbors, rather than seeking to resolve the matter through negotiation
and arbitration.
Much closer to the U.S., the Bolivarian Socialist Republic of
Venezuela is similarly using a historical claim to assert its own ninedash-line in the Caribbean, in a gambit with significant strategic
implications for the U.S. and in security in the region.

http://latinamericagoesglobal.org/2015/07/venezuelas-9-dash-line-in-the-caribbean/

7/28/2015

Venezuela's "9-Dash-Line" in the Caribbean

Page 2 of 6

Venezuela is staking a claim to the vast Essequibo region,

approximately two-thirds of the current territory of its neighbor
Guyana, along with the waters defined by the continental shelf of the
claimed area. This is where an international consortium led by Exxon
Mobil, operating under a license with the Guyanese government,
discovered a large oil deposit with a market valueestimated by
outside sourcesof $40 billion.
The area in question had been awarded to Guyana, then under British
control, in an 1899 arbitration ruling. In 1962, Venezuela formally
declared its desire to challenge the long-standing ruling, and, in 1983,
declared that it would no longer defer settlement of the matter. The
dispute was given relatively little attention until October 2013, when
Venezuelan military detained the oil exploration vessel Teknik Perdana
for conducting exploratory operations in the area without a permit from
Venezuela.
Technically, the 2013 incident involved a different Venezuelan claim,
based on a maritime line drawn from the current, internationally
accepted land borderbut the seizure suddenly heightened tensions
between the two countries. It was also, arguably, the technical
confirmation of significant commercially-recoverable quantities of oil
in the offshore portion of the disputed area that led Venezuela to press
its claim in a far more aggressive fashion.
On May 25, 2015, Venezuela issued presidential decree 1787, reaffirming its claim and linking it to a new Integrated Defense
Maritime Zone to be defended by the Venezuelan armed forces. The
decree eerily paralleled Chinas declaration of an Air Defense

http://latinamericagoesglobal.org/2015/07/venezuelas-9-dash-line-in-the-caribbean/

7/28/2015

Venezuela's "9-Dash-Line" in the Caribbean

Page 3 of 6

Identification Zone over disputed territories in the South China Sea in

November 2013.
Indeed, the action was so aggressive that Colombia, whose own
maritime limits with Venezuela in the Caribbean were also threatened,
protested the zone.
In the weeks following the assertion of the new military zone,
Venezuelan President Nicols Maduro declared that his country would
began registering the people who live in the territory of Essequibo
(under Guyanese administration even before the 1899 arbitration
formally awarded Guyana control), with Venezuelan identity cards.
How it would do so, though, remains unclearwhether Venezuelan
military or government officials would physically enter Guyanese
territory to register Venezuelas new citizens.
The Venezuelan government is also using economic pressure. In July,
it announced that it was suspending its purchases of Guyanese rice, a
significant blow given that Venezuela has traditionally bought 40
percent of the nations rice export.
As with Chinas small neighbors sharing the South China Sea, Guyana
lacks the military capabilities to prevail over Venezuela. Guyanas
newly elected President David Granger has repeatedly affirmed his
interest in settling the dispute through diplomatic and legal channels,
yet has also vowed to defend Guyanas sovereign territory if necessary,
and has reportedly convened Guyanas Defense Board.
Should the United States act?

http://latinamericagoesglobal.org/2015/07/venezuelas-9-dash-line-in-the-caribbean/

7/28/2015

Venezuela's "9-Dash-Line" in the Caribbean

Page 4 of 6

As in the East China Sea, the United States should avoid taking a
position on the merits of Venezuelas legal claim. Yet the U.S.
arguably has an interest in making a strong stand in support of the
integrity of national borders, and in this case Guyanas security against
Venezuelan attempts at intimidation.
This should include reinforcing the right of Guyana to manage
Stabroek (the offshore oil block under dispute) and the countrys other
offshore oil blocks, as well as its maritime territories and land. Through
this effort, the U.S. must also emphasize that any change to the
internationally-recognized status quo can only be re-negotiated through
international legal and diplomatic means.
If not strongly condemned by the international community,
Venezuelas aggressive rhetoric and actions will have troublesome
implications for the stability of the region. Would the states of the
region be equally silent if Colombia began to threaten Nicaraguan
fishermen operating near San Andres Island, based on its discontent
with the 2013 International Court of Justice (ICJ) decision? Should
Chile have a similar right to declare a maritime defense zone in parts of
its maritime frontier with Peru, awarded to the latter by the ICJ in
2014, if Chile were to decide that the award was unjust?
If there was ever a dispute in which the Organization of American
States (OAS) should play a role in resolving, it is this one. Venezuela
has sought mediation from virtually every organization except for the
OAS in the matter, including the United Nations and CELAC
(Community of Latin American and Caribbean States). Yet the OAS is
the only one of these organizations that is both representative of the
regions political and legal traditions, has the bureaucratic structures to

http://latinamericagoesglobal.org/2015/07/venezuelas-9-dash-line-in-the-caribbean/

7/28/2015

Venezuela's "9-Dash-Line" in the Caribbean

Page 5 of 6

resolve disputes of this nature, and includes the United States, which
was a key party to the 1899 arbitration decision at the heart of the
present dispute (ironically, the U.S. argued for Venezuelas claim, at
the time).
Standing by Guyana against Venezuelas present pre-emptive actions
and attempts at intimidation also advances the U.S. agenda of
democracy and rule of law in the region. On May 11, 2015, Guyana
held elections that were broadly characterized as free and fair by
international monitors from at least 10 nations. In those elections, the
multi-ethnic A Partnership for National Unity (APNU)Alliance
for Change (AFC) coalition successfully defeated the indo-Guyanese
Peoples Progressive Party (PPP) that had ruled the country for 23
years.
While it is too early to really assess the new APNU-AFC government
in Guyana, to date President Granger has shown himself to be a
statesman and a democrat, responding with dignity and restraint to the
accusations and insults of President Maduro. This is welcome in a
region undergoing a dramatic transition, including the re-integration of
Cuba into its economic and political structures, the unfolding collapse
of Venezuela, and the expansion of Chinas presence throughout the
region.
As with Chinas heavy-handed attempt to impose its territorial claims,
embodied by the nine dash line, in the South China Sea, Venezuelas
assertion of rights over two-thirds of Guyanas territory and associated
waters must be resolved by diplomacy and international legal
mechanismsnot by military, diplomatic and economic intimidation.
In standing up for Guyanas freedom from coercion, the United States

http://latinamericagoesglobal.org/2015/07/venezuelas-9-dash-line-in-the-caribbean/

7/28/2015

Venezuela's "9-Dash-Line" in the Caribbean

Page 6 of 6

and other regional neighbors will be defending democracy, rule of law,

the international normative order and those who share those values.

Filed Under: Venezuela

2015 LatinAmericaGoesGlobal
Design by Point Five, NY. Illustrated portraits by Joel Kimmel. Wordpress development by Robert Gourley.

http://latinamericagoesglobal.org/2015/07/venezuelas-9-dash-line-in-the-caribbean/

7/28/2015